"If I don't get a hometown date, I'll be scared for anybody around here"

The pressure's on folks - it's the week before the hometown dates.  There's 3 one-on-one dates and one group date tonight, and Emily and men are in the city of Prague.  Arie is chosen for the first alone date.  They tour the streets of Prague, with Emily as the chosen tour guide.  Her main goal of the date is to get to the bottom of a "secret" that she knows about, but he doesn't yet know that she knows. The secret is a past romantic relationship that Arie had with one of the shows producers; the producer herself confronted Emily {that's totally a flipper}. As the truth unfolds, it turns out the 'relationship' was very, very brief, and happened 10 years ago.  Arie didn't feel that it was worth revealing because it was so brief and so long ago, and Emily decides she was overreacting.  The date ends with super-schmoozy Arie confessing that he's fallen in love with her, and if he already wasn't a shoe-in for tonight's rose, that sealed his fate.

John "Wolf" is the lucky winner of the 2nd alone date.  They draw on the Lennon Wall, and she confesses she has to find her "romantic connection" with John.  From the Lennon Wall, they head to the lock gate and seal their fate with securing a lock to the gate.  The lock is a symbol of their love.  Lo and behold, they struggled to get the lock locked.  Foreshadowing for John's demise?  We shall see.  They head into the depths of a dungeon and share a candlelit dinner.  He looks awkward and nervous until he opens up about how the last relationship he was in ended because the gal cheated on him - complete with tear-filled eyes.  Careful, Johnny....sign of vulnerability, or a sign that you still love the old trollop?  He walked away with confidence, however, after planting a smooch on her kisser.

The date card arrives to notify those chosen for the group date, and Sean, Chris & Doug are the chosen ones. Chris sulks like a CHILD.  Sean runs through the steets of Prague yelling out Emily's name (wtf?)....but, he ends up finding her, and steals some one-one-one time (and some hot kisses).  Before we know it, the group is off and running.  They are swept up in a horse and carriage ride up to the top of a mountain and to an ancient castle. Emily and Doug share some time together, and Emily bemoans that he's not fighting for her and not touching her or kissing her enough, and she sends him on his way back to cuddle with his son. OH! Yep, and we get another ugly man cry to boot.  Sending him home makes it a little easier on Emily to share herself, and both Sean and Chris are more than happy to split their alone time in half instead of thirds.  Chris relays his displeasure for being picked for just the group date {which I HOPE nails his coffin}, even though he says he's not going to "dwell on it" {ORLY Chris, then why bring it up in the first place?  I can't stand that guy}.  Emily gives the date rose to Sean, and once again, Chris' rage was overly apparent {If I was Emily I might be concerned about this one's temper...}.

If you've done the math, you'll know that Jef-with-one-f is the recipient of the final one-on-one date for the week. They test out somne marionettes, and enact their 'feelings' for each other with the puppets.  They discuss their families, what to expect for 'hometown', and even marriage, and kids.  He's totally smitten with her and it shows.  He'll definitely get a chance to show her his stompin' gounds.

Because the guy is SUCH a DONKEY!

As the cocktail hour is about to begin, Emily approaches Chris Harrison to tell him she had already made her mind up,so she didn't need a cocktail hour, and we get right to the nitty gritty and the handing out of the roses.  Chris B freaks out because he needed an opportunity to make up for being an ASS on their group date, so he interrupts the rose ceremony just ahead of the final rose being distributed, begs for some alone time, bawls like a baby, and this ultimately leads onward to him receiving the final rose, and the Wolfman being sent home.  As she said good-bye to Wolf she seemed sincere in her decision but I can't help but wonder if Chris B's waterworks was indeed a deciding factor...then again, that lock wouldn't lock though, right?

Hometowns are just 7 days away folks - and hey, aren't you proud that I posted this on time tonight?  A huge accomplishment indeed.  Happy Monday :)